Longmont City Council votes eight times before electing mayor pro tem

New, re-elected members sworn in to office

Brian Bagley, who was elected to the council in 2011, was chosen by his fellow council members as the new mayor pro tem on Monday.
(
Matthew Jonas
)

LONGMONT -- In silence, the Longmont City Council filled out its ballots again. And again. And again.

And after seven tries on Monday night, the city still didn't have a mayor pro tem.

"Might I suggest we take a short recess while we get some more ballots?" City Clerk Valeria Skitt asked the council. "I'm not sure we're making much progress."

One more try. And on the eighth ballot between council members Gabe Santos, Sarah Levison and Brian Bagley, the No. 2 council office finally went to Bagley on a 4-3 vote.

"I just feel so good about the overwhelming support," Bagley joked, drawing a long laugh from the council and the audience. "I feel like I have a mandate for change."

It's the first time that the mayor pro tem -- who fills in when the mayor is absent -- ever took this long to choose, Skitt said. Often the vote is a formality; the 2011 election led to Santos being unanimously re-appointed to the office.

But the city charter requires the winner to get at least four votes on a secret ballot. With three candidates and no discussion, that wasn't so easy. On the first ballot, three voted for Levison, three for Santos and one for Bagley. The next five ballots all showed 3-2-2 results -- with the recipient of three votes changing more than once, to chuckles and amazement from the audience.

On the seventh ballot, Levison again had three votes, but so did Bagley. With the eighth ballot, the last Santos vote yielded.